A normal human rights case, escalated every step of the way due to brutal intervention of power, is another mark in the record of the evil deeds of the Chinese Communist Party’s dictatorship. In 2022, Jiangxi woman Li Yixue was forcibly sent to a psychiatric hospital by the public security for speaking up against police harassment, where she was tortured for nearly two months. Recently, she went missing again, being labeled as “mentally ill,” sparking waves of anger and condemnation both domestically and internationally.
Last Saturday, under the organization of the China Democratic Party, around 60-70 Chinese people gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles to show support for Li Yixue and protest against the Chinese Communist Party’s abuse of power by arbitrarily locking up ordinary people in psychiatric hospitals to silence them.
The attendees held up dozens of portraits of Li Yixue with slogans like “Global support for Li Yixue, CCP stop persecuting with mental illness.” In addition to supporting Li Yixue, they also displayed portraits of Vice Professor Wu Yanan of Nankai University, “Ink-Spilling Girl” Dong Yaoqiong, and Nanchang political dissident Gong Xinhua, who have also been labeled as “mentally ill” by authorities and gone missing.
“The Chinese Communist Party uses psychiatric hospitals to persecute dissidents, to suppress religious groups, which is a blatant violation of the most basic principles of social justice,” said Zheng Cunzhu, Chairman of the China Democratic Party, during the gathering. In Western societies, psychiatric treatment is a means of relief, allowing a criminal to avoid criminal responsibility; however, in China, the CCP turns “treatment” for mental illness into a means of suppression and intimidation.
Zheng Cunzhu pointed out that the CCP’s approach is, “I don’t care if you have broken the law, as long as I determine that you have mental problems, I can detain you indefinitely,” which is actually a more severe form of “punishment” than legal penalties.
The Li Yixue case originated in 2022 when she reported to the Dingong Road Police Station in Nanchang due to a civil dispute. Subsequently, auxiliary police officers allegedly attempted to assault her in a hotel room under the guise of discussing the case, resulting in a standoff overnight. Li Yixue did not report the incident to the police. Upon learning of the incident, the police station forcibly admitted her to the hospital for 56 days. After her discharge, she sought another hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, which concluded that she showed no signs of depression or anxiety.
Cases of using psychiatric hospitals to control specific groups of people and to persecute them through forced detention are abundant in China. Due to the authorities’ information blockade, many people are unaware of the “stability maintenance” function of psychiatric hospitals.
In 2022, Li Yixue, infuriated by the ordeal, filed a criminal lawsuit against the Jiangxi Provincial Mental Hospital and the Dingong Road Police Station. After the first trial, she released videos revealing various forms of abuse at the hospital, including that half of the patients had no mental illness and the hospital received a government subsidy of ten thousand yuan per patient, which garnered widespread attention.
In one of her videos, Li Yixue stated, “The viewership of my story has already exceeded one billion. If I cannot win, then there will be no hope for all the mental illness victims nationwide.”
Domestic netizens who shared the video also expressed concerns that if the status quo does not change, the injustice suffered by Li Yixue could happen to them as well.
However, the CCP crossed another line: on the 14th of this month, Li Yixue posted two videos pleading for help, alleging that the director of the local police station and others stormed into her home, with “dozens of men attacking her,” and was subsequently reported missing. According to the latest report, on the 21st, Beijing’s Anding Hospital issued an evaluation labeling her with “compulsive disorder, personality disorder,” and the next day she was sent back to the hospital by the community for “treatment”.
The event’s host, Wang Chenlong, stated during his speech that psychiatric hospitals in China are extremely dangerous places, where a large number of sane petitioners and dissidents are being held without cause, and once the authorities realize there is no legal basis to detain you, they keep you there and treat you as a “mentally ill patient” to deal with you.
Wang Chenlong further pointed out that the CCP’s approach has three objectives. First, once you are labeled as a “mentally ill patient”, your demands will be blurred, and people will be more concerned about whether you are ill rather than what you say, significantly weakening the legitimacy and credibility of the victims’ complaints.
Secondly, to restrict personal freedom to carry out various physical and mental tortures – binding, electric shocks, drugging, even sexual assault – to destroy you. Thirdly, victims will face significant impacts on employment, education, marriage and be socially isolated, leaving them with no channels to raise their voices.
The event organizer and Vice President of the China Democratic Party Headquarters, Jielijian, was forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital by the CCP due to his petitioning. He recalled his experience at the Konan Hospital in Shenzhen, where the most terrifying ordeal was the “electric needle therapy” (electroshock), “the suffering was like entering the eighteenth level of hell.”
“Torture in psychiatric hospitals is unparalleled in prison,” said Jielijian, “it not only damages your body but also harms your soul… extensive drug experiments, electroshock therapy, causing irreversible damage to your mind, central nervous system, and the brain marrow,” “to come out alive is already a miracle.”
In a recent video, Li Yixue revealed plans for an appeal but was once again locked up in a psychiatric hospital. In response, Zheng Cunzhu said, “This shows that the CCP’s rule has reached the final stage of collapse. ‘When heaven wants to destroy someone, it first makes them mad.’ The CCP’s approach is its final madness.” “I hope every one of us will stand up and speak out against it. I believe this madness will not last long.” ◇